Secrets of the Swamp (Locked)

[Lucky Charm]

This is a bad idea, said a part of Lucky's mind that he'd long since learned to tune out. He carefully picked his way over a tangle of roots with the easy care of a pony who'd wandered the world for many years, one ear twitching as he listened for the sounds of predators or monsters. Of course this probably was a bad idea. Froggy Bottom Bog was horribly dangerous. But he had a lot of experience with danger, usually in running away from it very fast, and anyway there were ruins in here that were practically untouched. The pyramid just begged to be explored! Who knew what kind of wonders he could unearth there?

Naturally he'd brought supplies for this trip. This pegasus was nothing if not prepared for a difficult journey. Besides food and camping gear, he had a small, arcane water purifier, antidotes for known swamp poisons and diseases, a journal to take notes in, a change of clothes, some miscellaneous equipment he figured he might need and of course plenty of space in his saddlebags to house whatever he found. Years of this kind of travel had left him with a pretty strong back. Now it was just a matter of following the map to where the pyramid ought to be. Unless he got lost again...

[Red Charge]

Lucky soon came into view of the bogs proper. Of course, he had nothing to worry about now right? The Hydra of the bog had been shrunk and given away as a pet, the cultists were long gone and back to Equestria's side and Eclipse was... he... it... was killed! Right? So what did Lucky have to worry about? Probably not much... Probably too much... Isn't it always said that places where powerful magic took place attract powerful monsters?

But there it was, the ruined pyramid blinking in the distance, the rubble even made for nice landing spots, he wouldn't even have to get his hooves dirty in the muck. If that's not a warm and welcoming invitation then what was?

The foul smelling bog water bubbled softly as acrid odors and gasses escaped the bottom of the bog, produced by an unknown count of possibly flesh eating bacteria. Fortunately one large chunk of stone after the other, Lucky was making headway towards the Pyramid and indeed soon enough he was upon it. He had no idea it went so far underground. Vines and filth hung on the ledges of the precarious drop, the stairways have long since collapsed inside and all that was left was eerie, near pitch darkness.

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky loved flying, but when it came time to travel he preferred to walk. It let him see the world up close, and even when that meant mostly bog trees and moss he still liked to take it in. Though whether by land or air, he couldn't say he enjoyed taking in the smell. All of this failed to explain why he was now hopping from stone to stone, flapping his wings once if at all rather than simply fly across the muck, but it made him feel more like an adventurer.

Finally he arrived at what looked like the entrance, or at least a part of it that was probably supposed to have a hole there and wasn't just collapsed. Though peering in he saw that plenty else had. Stairways, walls, probably sections of floor too. But the sunlight falling through the hole did little to illuminate the insides, so he pulled out a torch - one of three, though each lasted hours - and lit it before dropping down to hover in the pit, watching the now-flickering shadows for signs of life... and danger.

[Red Charge]

The smell that now assaulted Lucky's nostrils was that of rot, mold and a far more concentrated dose of bog gas as well as something else he couldn't quite place his hoof on. He realized he would not be able to proceed as he was, the air was positively toxic at this concentration. Good thing he thought to bring a gas mask with him.

As he hovered inside the pit his torch did little to illuminate the vast halls of the pyramid, now collapsed into one another so that only the bottom few remained. He was a speck of light in a dark expanse, as far as he knew he could have been in outer space, and the small circle of light above him could have been the sun.

A low rumble and gurgle came from below and a hot wave washed up towards him, undoubtedly the release of more swamp gas... or perhaps something far more sinister? Luckily enough, Lucky was always prepared and his gas mask was also a re-breather. How? Magic. Of course, diving under the slime, muck and swamp-water was no one's idea of a good time. But the treasure that might be had down there... think of the treasure!

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky chewed his lip nervously. Sure, he could survive down there with his rebreather mask (he hadn't left home without it since the incident with the hydromancer) but he had no light. Then again, he'd brought the torches in the hopes that these catacombs would be musty and dry - with this much concentrated swamp gas it was probably dangerous just to have an open flame. Sighing to himself, the Pegasus extracted a small, orange gem from his saddlebags.

Light gems were more expensive than torches, by far. They were also brighter, but lasted only about as long once activated. The good news was that they would work just fine underwater. He gave this one four hours, three to be safe, before he would be trapped in the pitch black water with no way to see or find his way back. Still, it was that or go home. He put a small, metal cap on the torch, extinguishing it without ruining it for later use, and packed everything away in his waterproof bags.

With all preparations finished, he took a deep breath (in his rebreather - force of habit) turned on the light gem and dove into the pool.

[Red Charge]

It was oddly serene under the bubbling surface of the swamp water, there was complete silence, save for a slight ringing as a result of the pressure of the swamp water on Lucky's ears. It seemed very peaceful, though cold, like a tomb.

Deeper and deeper the pegasus dived, outside of his element, into the darkness.

Even with his gem, the darkness was suffocating, he could barely see his own hoof in front of his face. His safest bet was to find a wall and stick to it. So he did, he found a broken wall and went with it, further and further down until he finally hit a floor. Okay, now he was good to look for something.

Though he was not able to find any object, he was able to find the summoning circle on which Eclipse was summoned... it was still intact too? It may not be physical treasure, but some scholars would probably pay a lot for that. But how was he going to copy it down underwater?

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky had to contain his excitement to keep from accidentally dropping the light gem. Archaeological find of the decade! And he wasn't even an archaeologist! This should set him up for a year's worth of travel, easy! Or... or probably a more modest living while he stuck to his promise to help his homeland rebuild. It could do that too.

He shook his head. He'd just have to cross that gap when he came to it. For now, he was unfortunately lacking in underwater pens and seaweed paper. Maybe he should've stopped by that sea pony shop in Baltimare. He certainly couldn't commit a ritual this complex to memory, but maybe there was a record here somewhere? A scale model carved in stone or something? He still had plenty of time left on the light gem, he could look around for something. At least some evidence to convince better-prepared, particularly wealthy scholars to follow him down here later...

[Red Charge]

Look though he might, Lucky Charm could not locate any scaled model or any book or diagram other than the one on the floor. All he had around him was rubble and stone and rubble and stone...

[Lucky Charm]

Lucky frowned. His excitement at the find was ebbing now, replaced by frustration. How would he convince anyone of the find if all he had was his word? More importantly, how would he get a decent souvenir out of all this if the only thing around besides rocks and rubble was a giant ritual diagram on the floor?

Rocks and rubble... Well, that could have uses too. Grinning to himself, Lucky picked up a nearby, jagged-edged rock and took it to another, flat-topped one that had probably been part of a block. It wouldn't be easy, but with some work he could carve in a scale model of this diagram. That should be enough.

[Red Charge]

Though it was far from perfect, Lucky was able to copy down the diagram. Sure, the circles were slightly trapezoid and some lines looked more like parabolas than angles... But he knew what they looked like, all it took was to copy it down to paper once he was out of the swamp. Carve, carve, carve, sharpen, carve, glub glub, glint glint... wait a minute... glint glint?

Turning over towards the source of the glinting, Lucky was able to find .... a golden jigsaw piece? What in the world? It was, exactly that... a jigsaw piece seemingly made of solid gold. How much would this be worth?

He'd have to ponder that later, since his light gem was changing colors, fast. His trip down must have been longer than he thought.

[Lucky Charm]

The jigsaw piece raised a lot of questions. What was it doing here? Where did it come from? Were there more lying around? Would it lead him to adventure or just be a nice knick-knack? Unfortunately, the changing colors raised a bigger one: How long was left of the light gem? Whatever the answer was, better to swim back now before it went down to "not nearly enough."

Lucky knew he'd got where he was by finding a wall and following it. It didn't take him long to find the same wall and start following it back, up to the surface. Sometimes he had to remind himself which way was up by watching the wall as he took a deep pull of his rebreather, enough that he floated upwards just slightly. Soon, though, he'd be back on dry land and ready to announce this to the archaeologists of Equestria!

[Red Charge]

Thanks to his cleverness, Lucky was able to find his way back to the surface before his time ran out and from there, the trip out of the swamp was smooth sailing. Even though he had the feeling he was being watched the entire time, by someone or ... something. Occasionally he heard a heavy brush through the plantation, saw something in the corner of his eyes. Was it his imagination? Or was someone stalking him?

Fortunately, nothing came of it and he was able to leave the swamp in piece. Where would his adventures next lead him? Who knows.